Try to make time for exercise this season. You may not burn off all the extra calories you're eating, but working out can battle the long-term effects of fatty holiday foods.

Who isn't guilty of overdoing it a bit around the holidays? It's tough to say "no" to those delicious dips, pies, cookies or whatever your holiday vice may be. But we heard some news that might help allay some of the negative effects when New Years rolls around. According to a study released by the Journal of Physiology, 45 minutes of vigorous daily exercise may help counteract most of the effects of "short-term overfeeding" (a.k.a. normal holiday eating habits) and "under-activity" (a.k.a. sitting on your couch and watching a marathon of holiday movies).

In the study, two groups of young men were asked to cut down significantly on their daily activity (go from 10,000 steps a day to less than 4,000 steps) and increase their calorie intake. The control group consumed 50% more calories per day than what they usually ate. The test group also increased what they ate, but because they were also working out 45 minutes a day on a treadmill, researchers allowed them to eat as many calories as they were burning while exercising. In the end, both groups had the same amount of unburned calories, but the men who worked out didn't show the same detrimental effects caused by overeating and under-exercising that the control group showed. For example, the guys who exercised were still able control their blood sugar, while the sedentary group showed an increased insulin resistance ("often the first step toward diabetes," according to the New York Times' Well blog).

"Exercise seemed to completely cancel out many of the changes induced by overfeeding and reduced activity," Dylan Thompson, a professor of health sciences at the University of Bath and senior author of the study, told the New York Times.

The biggest finding of the study may be that your metabolism is a complicated system, but here's something else we gleaned: It couldn't hurt to add in a little exercise to your holiday routine. This could be as simple as taking the stairs instead of the elevator or parking a little further from the mall entrance. Though, of course, a full-blown workout, if you have the time and inclination, is always best.

After all, we know it's hard to resist that "short-term overfeeding" around the holidays. That's what New Years resolutions are for – you get a second chance to get back on track.